Sleepless in New York
by NeverMindDream
Summary: One restless night leads to Danny almost meeting someone a number of times. [DannyOC] It's FINALLY finished folks...I know it took me forever...sorry.
1. Fire and PJ's

AN Alrighty so I'm tryin' my hand at this...I hope you guys like it...let me know! Dream :)

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**Sleepless in New York  
**Dream © 2005

Danny couldn't sleep. That's why he was walking down the street at three in the morning, well he was restless too. Sometimes pacing in his apartment just didn't cut it. He heard the sirens, but it's New York, sirens are a regular occurrence there. So he kept walking and tried to ignore them, until the trucks rolled right by him.

Oh look the fire is around the corner.

He really shouldn't loiter around a potential crime scene.

"Hey Danny is that you?"

"Chris? I thought you were at a different station." Now it didn't qualify as loitering.

The fireman laughed, "Got transferred."

"Hey Chris I need you in here!" A guy came out of the building guiding a woman, "Danny?" He looked at him funny for a moment.

"I don't wear my glasses all the time, Ken."

"Or suits apparently." Ken looked down at Danny's tracksuit.

"Yeah, well." Danny shrugged.

"Can you take her till the ambulance gets here?" Ken didn't wait for a response just started shouting instructions at Chris as they went back into the building.

The woman was shivering and without even looking at him she huddled close to him for warmth. "I wish I could have grabbed my jacket." Her teeth chattered. She appeared to have a cut on her forehead and was coughing a lot, but didn't look in too much immediate danger.

He was definitely pacing in his apartment next time; this was not helping him fall asleep. He pulled off the sweatshirt he was wearing and put it over her head. She handed him something that must have been a teddy bear in another life. People in shock will do the weirdest things. He pushed the bear into his pocket and helped her pull her arms through the sweatshirt. He kept an arm around her and rubbed her arms to keep her warm, while also looking for an ambulance.

Ken and Chris came out carrying two children and guiding three adults, "Building's clear." Ken announced.

One ambulance arrived but the woman insisted that the children get treated first, "Why can't fires start when I'm ready for them?"

Danny had been looking around for an available paramedic, he chuckled, "You around a lot of fires in the middle of the night?"

"No, but you ever notice when a building is evacuated on the news due to fire all the residents are in the PJs?" He finally took most of her in and laughed, she had on white PJ bottoms with bright pink flamingos on them and her feet were in some equally as pink flip flops. No wonder she was cold.

Finally an ambulance arrived and a paramedic came over, "She's got a pretty deep cut, but other than that she appears to be okay." Danny told him as he wrapped a blanket around her shoulders.

When he was sure everything was okay he headed back home. He was in his room getting ready to try and sleep when he realized he still had that bear.

"You know what I don't get?" Flack asked as he walked into the audio visual lab where Danny and Aiden were checking out security tapes from a robbery case they were working on.

"Why women even talk to you?" Danny said with a laugh, "Ow." He rubbed the back of his head and looked at his partner.

"Don't start."

"Start what? It's not my fault he's an anomaly."

Flack completely ignored them and kept ranting, "Do you want to know what I was greeted with this morning when I got to work?"

"No but I'm afraid we're gonna find out anyway." This time Danny ducked when Aiden went to cuff him.

"Metcalf at the front desk told me this prime piece of femininity came in looking for you." He pointed at Danny, "How do you do that?"

Danny chuckled, "Do what? I didn't do anything, although I'm curious about this prime piece you're talking about."

"Can we please stop talking about this woman like she's a slab of meat?" Aiden asked in disgust.

"Right, sorry. This beautiful woman," Flack looked to Aiden who nodded her approval, "Wanted to return this," He threw a sweatshirt at Danny.

He caught it and inhaled, "Wow she even washed it. It smells like my laundry when my sister does it." Both Aiden and Flack stared at him waiting for him to elaborate, "What?"

"Are you at all going to tell us why a woman showed up at PD with one of your sweatshirts?" Aiden asked.

He shrugged, "It was nothing, her apartment building was on fire, she was cold I gave her the sweater."

"Shit," Flack through his hands up, "You're a damn super hero now?"

Aiden burst out laughing, "I do NOT need a mental picture of him in tights!"

"And a cape," Flack started laughing, "a bright red one."

"Shut up." Danny shook his head, "I couldn't sleep, went for a walk, happened upon a scene, Ken Dumont flung this woman at me, end of story."

"Now why is it that I never get a woman flung at me? All I get are smelly DB's and alcoholics who spew on my shoes."

"Aww poor Don doesn't have the sexy Italian thing going." Aiden chided.

"Sexy huh?" Danny smirked at her.

She got him this time, "Don't flatter yourself."

"Hey you're the one who said I was sexy." He held his hands up and laughed.

"This a party I wasn't invited to?" Mac asked with a small smile.

Danny looked at him sheepishly, "It's all Flack's fault."

"Uh huh," He tried not to smirk, "Just finish those surveillance videos, we need to get this done."

"Right, we're on it." Aiden pushed Danny's head around so they were both looking at the monitors.

"Come on Flack." Mac said with a laugh.

"I want details about that woman." Flack said to Danny.

"I don't even know her name." Danny said not turning around.

"Doesn't matter, cause you and I both know you will soon enough." Flack said with a huff.

Danny shrugged as the door shut. "He has a lot of confidence in you." Aiden commented.

He smirked, "You would too…"

"…if what?"

He winked, "If we didn't work together."

She rolled her eyes and cuffed the back of his head not for the last time that day.


	2. Ransom

AN Well I hope you guys like this as much as you liked the first bit...lol :)

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Danny called Ken to ask where most of the residence of that apartment building had been put since the fire. He looked down at the address for the hotel and walked into the lobby.

"Hello I'm looking for a Lauren Blake, she's one of the residents of that apartment fire?" Danny asked the front desk clerk.

"Yeah she's up on the second floor, you her boyfriend?"

Danny turned to see at the man addressing him, he looked like the type who gave greasy a bad name. "I just need to return something to her and you are?"

"Pete, her neighbor, why don't you just give me whatever it is and I'll return it." He extended his hand.

Danny didn't like this guy at all, so he chose to ignore hi before he hurt him, "Do you have a room number?" He asked the clerk.

"217 and I don't like to be ignored." Pete grabbed Danny's shoulder and spun him around.

"And I don't like working off the clock." Danny said coolly moving his jacket aside to reveal his badge, "but I'm willing to make an exception just for you."

Pete immediately backed off with both hands in the air, "Sorry officer, I was just playin' anyway Lauren ain't here."

Danny sighed and rolled his eyes, "That's all I wanted to know." He looked back at the clerk, "Can you just give her this note for me?" He pulled out a notebook that he usually took crime scene notes on and jotted something down before handing it to the girl.

"Sure." She nodded with a slight blush.

"Thanks." He smiled at her then cast a weary eye at Pete, "We're not going to have any more problems are we?"

"Nope." Pete said with a shake of his head and a few steps back.

"Good." Danny nodded then with a wink at the clerk he left the lobby.

Lauren got back from her meeting an hour later, "Umm Miss. Blake?"

She looked at the young girl, "Yes?"

"Umm, a guy came by and told me to give you this note," the girl blushed, "I think he was a cop and uh, he was pretty hot."

Lauren grinned, "No kidding, thanks Claire."

"You're welcome."

Lauren got into the elevator before she opened the card. She was laughing hysterically by the time she got to her floor.

The card read: _Hey PJ girl. I have your bear. I'm treating him well but I think he misses you. Call me and we'll discuss his return. DM_

Danny had his phone to his ear and a large smile on his face when he came into work the next day.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" Aiden asked.

"Listen to this," he laughed and pushed a couple of buttons to replay the message on his voice mail.

_PJ girl huh? Well fine then sweater boy it's on. I want my Snuggles back and I mean the bear. Call me with your ransom demands. Oh and thanks for whatever you said to scare Pete, cause it worked._

Aiden chuckled, "That's the girl from the fire?"

Danny nodded, "Yeah I went to her hotel after work yesterday to return the bear, but she wasn't there."

"Wait, back up. How in the world did you get her teddy bear and how old is she?" Aiden grinned, "You starting to rob cradles now?"

Danny rolled his eyes, "I don't need to rob any cradles thank you very much. I have no idea why she had the bear. It was a fire; maybe she was carrying it for sentimental reasons."

"Well, either way she seems to have your sense of humor which frightens me."

"Aw admit it Aid, you want me." He put an arm around her with a smirk.

She shoved his arm away and scoffed, "Not in this lifetime Messer. What I want is for you to help me with this 419 in Manhatten."

When they arrived at the scene Flack gave them all that he knew about the body. He talked to Danny while he worked the perimeter. "So did you talk to the hottie?"

Danny looked up from where he was bagging some evidence, "Still haven't seen her yet, she wasn't home. So how hot was she?"

"You mean you don't know?" Flack was incredulous.

Danny shrugged, "She was covered in soot and in her pajamas shivering in the cold. It didn't occur to me to check out her ass or anything."

"But…" Flack prompted.

Danny laughed, "I swear to you all I know is her feet were pedicured cause she was wearing flip flops."

"You've lost your touch Messer." Flack said with a laugh.

"I haven't lost anything I just don't make a point of picking up women at scenes. Now answer my question."

"I don't have a clue how hot she is. Metcalfe is the one who saw her, not me."

"Hmm, interesting."


	3. Upping The Ante

AN Okay so I like writing dialogue, so sue me, I had fun writing this bit so I hope you have fun reading it...I have more an idea of where it's going so enjoy:)

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Lauren yawned as she walked into her office; she didn't really like Mondays, in fact she hated them. She loved her job; she ran a day care in one of the many downtown office buildings, she just hated Mondays.

Keesha, her associate, came in with a smile, "I think I may have something to brighten your day."

"It's Monday Keesha, nothing brightens my day till the first of the kids come in, you know that."

"Well I have to say the officer that showed up with this," Keesha fanned herself with a white envelope and winked, "sure made my day."

Lauren grabbed for it, "Dirty blond hair, insane blue eyes and a smile that could melt you before he even speaks?"

"You know this guy? How come you haven't told me about him?" Keesha jumped out of the way.

"I don't actually know the guy, he's just," Lauren tried to fake left but ended up colliding with her desk chair and fell over laughing.

"Wait, wait, wait! Is this the guy from the fire?" Keesha braced herself on the other side of the desk read to run if need be.

Lauren nodded, "You ever thought of playing basketball woman? Damn!"

Handing her the envelope Keesha laughed, "I used to play with my three brothers, two on two. So is it?"

Holding up a hand Lauren ripped into the envelope and let the two items fall on her desk. "How did he know where to find me?" She muttered to herself then looked at the items. One was a Polaroid and the other was another note. She picked up the picture and laughed, on it was her bear holding a copy of that day's paper. He appeared to be leaning against a microscope of some sort. Handing it to Keesha she read the note out loud:

_PJ girl, as you can see I can find you anywhere. So the ransom is as follows, meet me at the precinct at 4:30 and the bear stays intact. If you aren't there I might just have to remove one of his buttons. SB_

Keesha looked at the picture then at her friend, "SB?"

"Sweater boy," Lauren laughed. "His real name is Danny something."

"Something huh? You didn't get his last name?"

"The only reason I got his first name was cause one of the fire fighters called him that. I think he knows more about me then I know about him. Okay if he wants to make this interesting, wanna do me a favor?" She asked with a twinkle in her eye.

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Danny and Aiden were driving back from a scene when his cell rang, "Messer." He answered without even checking to see if he knew the number.

"So that's your last name huh?"

"That depends." He had an idea who this was but he felt like playing along.

"On what?"

"If you know my first name."

"Danny," She said with a chuckle, "Or I could just keep calling you sweater boy."

He laughed, "That's too long, Danny will do."

"Well I wear more than PJ's you know."

"Actually I don't, I've only ever seen you in that." He countered as he pulled in front of the lab.

"Under the wrong circumstances too." She flirted.

He chuckled, "Well then Miss. Blake, I don't know if it's wise to flirt with someone you hardly know."

"You're a police officer; I'll take the bold approach and assume I can trust you and you can all me Lauren."

"Crime scene investigator actually Lauren and you can only trust me if I get my ransom."

"That's why I called actually."

"Is it?"

"I'm afraid I can't make the deadline."

"Well, then I'm afraid Snuggles is going to lose a button."

Aiden was getting more and more intrigued by this conversation so she didn't say anything just followed Danny into the lab and listened quietly while he talked.

"My associate is willing to meet you in my place."

"That sort of defeats the purpose, PJ girl."

"Unfortunately I have a meeting I can't get out of."

"You ended a sentence with a preposition, what kind of thing are you teaching those kids anyway." He liked this banter between them; it was a lot of fun.

Stella came into the lab and looked at Aiden, "Who is he talking to?"

"Some mystery girl," Aiden shrugged, "About proper grammar apparently."

Stella got the sample she was looking for and turned to leave, "And here I thought he was a player."

"He's all talk." Aiden confirmed with a laugh.

Danny waved them both away indicating he'd heard them yet still heard Lauren. "I run a day care Danny, all I teach them is how to take a nap and possibly eat a snack."

"Yeah sure you do, you're corrupting our next generation aren't you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"You can corrupt me if you make it to the precinct." He tried with a grin.

"Ah, ah, ah, patience sweater boy." She chided, "I actually do have a meeting, so Keesha is all I can promise."

"Well," He sighed, "Then Keesha is going to get herself a button."

"All right if that's the way you're going to be, just don't let his stuffing come out."

"The stuffing will stay in, scouts honor."

"Why can't I picture you as a boy scout?"

"You can picture me however you want, just as long as I can meet you some day."

"You never know," She clicked her tongue, "you never know." She hung up before he could say good bye.

"Okay what was that about?" Aiden asked.

Danny wasn't even paying attention, "Think she can up the ante does she? Well then she doesn't know with whom she's dealing." He hit a number he had on speed dial and waited.

"I swear to God Danny…" Aiden started.

He held up his hand as the person answered, "Flack? I need you to do a favor for me man."


	4. Grade 6

**AN** I know, I know it has been WAY too long between updates…I'm sorry I just needed a good way to lead up to the meeting. I hope you enjoy it…thanks to all who have been patient…I'm trying to get the last chapter done soon. Wish me luck. :)

"_Think she can up the ante? Well she doesn't know who she's dealing with, does she?" He hit a number he had on speed dial and waited. "Flack? I need you to do a favor for me man."_

"I can't believe I'm doing this." Flack mumbled.

"You owe Messer or something?" Officer Metcalfe said as he leaned on the front desk at the precinct.

"No, but he's gonna owe me after this."

"Fine, but why do I have to be here?"

"Because dipshit, you are the only one out of the three of us who has actually seen the woman."

Metcalfe was incredulous, "How the hell did he meet her then?"

"Long ass story that I don't want to get into," Flack said noncommittally, "Just tell me if the woman is her or not." He leaned against a desk situated a bit behind Metcalfe

Keesha couldn't believe that Lauren had talked her into this. It was only because she was insanely curious about this whole deal that she agreed to do anything. She walked into the precinct and looked around. "Where is he?" She muttered to herself wondering again how she'd let Lauren talk her into this.

Flack noticed her and instantly knew this wasn't the woman from the fire. "The little shit." He thought. The only reason he had agreed to do this exchange for Danny was because he had been assured he would be able to meet the mystery woman.

"Hey Metcalfe is that her?"

The officer looked up and shook his head, "Nope, that right there is another breed of hot." He whistled.

Flack shook his head, "And you wonder why you can't get a date."

He walked over to her, "Let me guess, you got roped into this game too?"

Keesha looked him over once and silently wondered if New York had a gorgeous quota to fill in hiring public servants. "You are definitely not the same guy from this morning."

"I hope not cause I'd remember someone like you."

She smiled at him, "Smooth."

"I like to think so."

"Do you have a name or do I just call you blue eyes?"

He chuckled, "Don Flack."

"Keesha Johnson," she shook his offered hand, "I'm told you have a button for me."

Flack rolled his eyes and pulled an envelope out of his pocket. "I feel like I'm in grade 6." He handed it to her.

Keesha laughed, "Yeah I was getting the 'my friend likes your friend' vibes too." She reached into her purse and pulled out a piece of paper. "For your boy."

"Thanks." Flack pocketed the item.

"So Don…" Keesha's lips curled into a coy smile, "Feel like having an adult dinner?"

He cocked his head to the side and smirked, "Should I get Danny to call Lauren with my answer?"

"Nah, just meet me at 7 here…" She pulled out a piece of paper and wrote it down.

He took it and smiled, "This is a home address."

Keesha reached over and squeezed his hand, "I don't play games," she leaned in and whispered into his ear, "I cut to the chase." She then winked and was gone.

Metcalfe came over in awe, "How come shit like that never happens to me?"

"Hell if I know." Flack looked down at the address in his hand, "Shit like this usually happens to Danny."

Lauren raced to the coffee shop after her meeting, "Do you have it?" She slid across the booth in front of Keesha.

Keesha leaned across the table, "Can I just say I have a high level of appreciation for law enforcement?"

"Hey now no going after my guy."

Keesha laughed and pushed the envelope across the table, "If he was your guy how come you didn't push your meeting up and go see him?"

Lauren tore into the envelope, "I'm cautious, but he's still not up for grabs." She smiled and fingered the button that had obviously not come from her bear. She unfolded the note.

"Don't worry, whenever you want to grab that Italian you go right ahead. I'm getting myself my own officer of the law."

Lauren only half heard her friend; she was too busy reading the note.

_Hey PJ girl, I couldn't do it. Snuggles convinced me not to hurt him. However he misses you so you have one last chance. Call me when you get this. SB_

"And then we had sex right there in the lobby."

Lauren snapped her head up, "What!"

"Just trying to see if you're listening." Keesha grinned, "I have a date tonight so I'll leave you to drool over that piece of paper, while I prepare myself to be drooled over in person." She got up and dropped some bills on the table for her coffee.

"By your very own cop?"

"Yeah, every one should get their own, you should call yours. I'm done being a messenger girl." Keesha patted her friend's arm.

Lauren pulled out her phone as soon as she was alone and dialed.

Meanwhile Flack had picked up flowers and changed his clothes before going to the lab.

"It's about time." Danny came out of an evidence room where he was working with Aiden.

"You're lucky I came at all buddy." Flack said flinging the note at his friend.

"Wow look at you," Aiden stepped out of the room, "You even smell good, what's her name?"

Danny raised an eyebrow at Flack, "The delivery girl?"

"What can I say? She couldn't resist my charm."

"The women in New York should know better than to go after the likes of you two." Aiden said after reading the note.

"Are all the women in New York after us?" Danny asked with a smirk, "We'd better get busy."

"Who wants to start with her?" Flack indicated Aiden with a nod.

"I'll flip you for her, heads I win, tails you lose."

"I'll give you a flip." Aiden growled.

"Take her," Flack relented without a fight, "I have a date."

Danny's phone rang and he looked at it with a smile, "Hopefully I'm on my way to having one too."

"Screw both of you, I don't need pets." She said rolling her eyes.

"With that insult I'm outta here." Flack laughed.

"Messer," Danny answered his phone merely smirking at Aiden who just shook her head and got out of there before she hurt either of them.

"I only have one more chance?" Lauren asked.

He was already in the locker room getting ready to finally leave, "Hell yeah, Snuggles snores."

Lauren laughed, "What are you doing right now?"

"Getting my wallet and walking out of the lab."

"And what are you going to do after that?"

"Most likely go home and have dinner. Snuggles is cooking up something special."

"Really?" She actually giggled, "So you already have dinner plans then?"

"I could be persuaded to change my mind, if the offer is right."

"Hmm I'd better think up a good offer."

He hailed a cab in front of the lab, getting in he held up a hand and said, "I'm going to put my phone up to the cabbies ear, give him the address of where you are."

"How do you know I'm not still at work or in a cab already?"

"I'll regale you with my powers of deduction when I get there, now tell him." He smiled at the cab driver who listened for a second then nodded. "You did give him an address right?"

"I guess you'll have to trust me on that."

"I guess I will." He hung up with a smile a finally read the note.

_You really didn't hurt him, did you?_


	5. Snuggles Reunited

**AN** If I were any of you I would have given up on me finishing this a long time ago…however if you have managed to be patient enough I hope this is worth it for you… let me know if it was worth the wait…hell let me know if it wasn't! LoL

**Disclaimer** (even if it isn't on the other chapters): I don't own any of the characters already found on CSI:NY if I did own Danny I wouldn't have time to write these sorts of things.

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Lauren fidgeted with her napkin and looked around the restaurant for what had to have been the hundredth time since she sat down. He was coming. He had to have been coming, he had indicated as much. She shook her head, New York traffic was horrific at the best of times and even if a cabbie was damn good it could take forever to get anywhere. She nodded when the waiter offered her more coffee then looked around the restaurant again.

Danny couldn't believe it, his hands were kind of clammy and for some reason they wouldn't stop shaking. He was actually nervous. He wasn't even sure why, well he had an idea, this woman embodied mystery and that's one thing he really enjoyed, figuring out a mystery. However, sometimes once a mystery was figured out, it wasn't nearly as interesting. Maybe that was it, he was nervous that she wouldn't be as interesting. Whatever it was he was here and he wasn't backing out now, besides he really wanted to see what she looked like without the soot in her hair.

"You wouldn't be meeting someone here would you?" A young waiter asked him.

"As a matter of fact I am? How did you know?"

"You showed up alone, scanned the room a number of times and put your hands in your pockets twice." The guy smiled, "She's sitting right over there." He indicated Lauren who was watching them intently.

"You're pretty observant." Danny commented as he followed the waiter through the restaurant.

"I work in food services, you start to know people." He shrugged, "Would you like a drink?"

"Just water for now," Danny slid across the booth and nodded at the waiter before finally giving Lauren eye contact. He smiled, "Hi."

She stared at him for a moment then returned his smile, "Hi." He had a great smile and seemed to be all poise and confidence which should have pissed her off, she generally hated that type of guy, but was instead ridiculously turned on.

"You are a difficult woman to meet." He chided leaning back in his chair regarding her with his head tilted to the side.

She leaned forward and clasped her hands together, "Admit it, you just liked the game."

He thought for a moment then leaned forward just close enough to smell her subtle perfume, "Game?" He raised an eyebrow and smirked. This was getting to be more fun than the notes.

His smirk was driving her insane, she was secretly wondering if he had extra pheromones kicking around, "The notes, the kidnap plot…seems like an elaborate game to me."

"How do you know I'm not actually planning to keep Snuggles?"

"Because you're so determined to meet me."

He shrugged, "Snuggles talks a lot about you, I had to see if his stories were true." He thoroughly enjoying the way she slowly licked her lips before replying to him.

She laughed and leaned back in her chair, being in that close proximity to him was not helping, "Fine, I give, this has nothing to do with me."

"On the contrary Lauren, it has everything to do with you."

"You are a walking contradiction." She shook her head.

Danny grinned, "You aren't the first to notice."

Lauren switched gears into something a bit more relaxed, "So it would appear that our messengers are on a date tonight."

"From the look on Flack's face he's expecting a damn good date." He commented.

She laughed, "He won't be disappointed I can assure you."

"I wasn't worried." Danny took a slow sip of the drink he ordered, "So Lauren tell me, where did you get Snuggles?"

She thought about her answer for a moment, "My family used to visit my grandmother in Arizona every year and being the youngest I used to get left out of a lot of games, so Snuggles was my only friend.

"That," He chuckled, "Is quite cute."

"Is quite cute a good thing?" Lauren asked.

"It works for me."

"Well then," She smiled, "thank you. So Danny tell me, why were you walking around a fire in the middle of the night?"

"Oh I was waiting for my next date to be passed to me by a fireman." He said with a wink.

"Ah," She nodded, "Is this the only way you get dates? Fires, victims and old teddy bears?"

He burst out laughing, "Nah, you just left an impression."

"I'll take that as a good thing."

Dinner last three hours, yet it felt like a few minutes for both of them. Danny walked her to her car after he had settled the check. He leaned on the door she opened and smiled at her, "I'm glad you finally agreed to meet me."

She returned his smile, "I'm glad you were bored enough to create an elaborate kidnapping plot."

"Oh I'm never bored," He stepped toward her slightly, "You're just intriguing."

She watched him approach her, "Are you gonna kiss me?" She asked with a smirk.

He regarded her for a moment then nodded, "The thought had crossed my mind."

Meeting him half way she put her arms around his neck, "Well tell it to cross faster."

"Yes ma'm." He said against her mouth.

Snuggles finally saw his owner that night, although he didn't have to leave Danny's bureau to do it.

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**AN** Yeah it's a cheesy as ending, but come on it's a humour fic…what did ya expect? Seriously though I hope you liked it. 


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